The Document.write() method writes a string of text to a document stream opened by document.open().
Note: Because
document.write() writes to the document stream, calling document.write() on a closed (loaded) document automatically calls document.open(), which will clear the document.Syntax
document.write(markup);
Parameters
- markup
- A string containing the text to be written to the document.
Example
<html>
<head>
<title>Write example</title>
<script>
function newContent() {
document.open();
document.write("<h1>Out with the old, in with the new!</h1>");
document.close();
}
</script>
</head>
<body onload="newContent();">
<p>Some original document content.</p>
</body>
</html>
Notes
The text you write is parsed into the document's structure model. In the example above, the h1 element becomes a node in the document.
Writing to a document that has already loaded without calling document.open() will automatically call document.open(). After writing, call document.close() to tell the browser to finish loading the page.
If the document.write() call is embedded within an inline HTML <script> tag, then it will not call document.open(). For example:
<script>
document.write("<h1>Main title</h1>")
</script>
Note:
document.write() and document.writeln do not work in XHTML documents (you'll get an "Operation is not supported" [NS_ERROR_DOM_NOT_SUPPORTED_ERR] error in the error console). This happens when opening a local file with the .xhtml file extension or for any document served with an application/xhtml+xml MIME type. More information is available in the W3C XHTML FAQ.Note: Using
document.write() in deferred or asynchronous scripts will be ignored and you'll get a message like "A call to document.write() from an asynchronously-loaded external script was ignored" in the error console.Note: In Edge only, calling
document.write() more than once in an <iframe> causes the error "SCRIPT70: Permission denied".Note: Starting with version 55, Chrome will not execute
<script> elements injected via document.write() when specific conditions are met. For more information, refer to Intervening against document.write().Specifications
| Specification | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| HTML Living Standard The definition of 'document.write(...)' in that specification. |
Living Standard | |
| Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 HTML Specification The definition of 'document.write(...)' in that specification. |
Obsolete |
Browser compatibility
The compatibility table on this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.
Update compatibility data on GitHub
| Desktop | Mobile | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
write | Chrome Full support 1 | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 1 | IE Full support 4 | Opera Full support 3 | Safari Full support 1 | WebView Android Full support 1 | Chrome Android Full support 18 | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android Full support 10.1 | Safari iOS Full support 1 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0 |
Legend
- Full support
- Full support